Inspired by the bestselling book Half the Sky, by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, a groundbreaking exhibition Women Hold Up Half the Sky addresses the oppression of women worldwide as the human rights cause of our time—and boldly asserts that change is possible, and it can happen quickly.

“Half the Sky” is Showing until May 7th, 2012 at Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049
Tele: (310) 440-4500
Tickets: $10, free Thursdays. Open late some evenings.

This month, the Bay Area brings it with Man as Object: Reversing the Gaze, an exhibit reversing normative gender roles and ideas around ‘objectification’ by turning the tables and making men society’s bitch.  Here, men are deemed things to gaze upon, genitalia to paint, models of ass-bearing booty shorts and also, dads upon which daughters pray on like the North star.  At times provocative, sexy, thoughtful and serene, this exposition is bound to make ya think – and talk – until dusk.  Highlight: Annie Sprinkle & partner Beth Stephens.

What:  Man as Object: Reversing the Gaze

When:  November 4–30, 2011

Where:  934 Brannan St., San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 863-1414

How Much:  Free admission during normal gallery hours

Gallery Hours:   Tues–Fri 12–7PM, Sat 12–5PM

Man as Object: Reversing the Gaze is a traveling survey  of 117 artworks debuting at SOMArts before traveling to the Kinsey Institute which place the male form in a position of objecthood and reverse conventional hierarchies in the culture of display. The exhibition includes an extensive collection of male adoration, male impersonation and male appendages, as well as works which probe contemporary expressions of feminism.

Featured artists include:

Juana Alicia
Nancy Buchanan
Guerrilla Girls On Tour!
Lynn Hershman Leeson
Jill O’Bryan
ORLAN
Carolee Schneemann
Sylvia Sleigh
Annie Sprinkle
Elizabeth Stephens
May Wilson
Melissa P. Wolf

Haunts of A Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski’s Los Angeles

When

Saturday, November 12, 2011 – 12:00pm – 4:00pm

Where

Philippe the Original
1001 N Alameda St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 628-3781

This tour focuses on Bukowski’s great passions: writing, screwing and Los Angeles. We’ll take in the canonical locations of his life and myth: the Postal Annex Terminal where he gathered the material for “Post Office,” the De Longpre apartment where he briefly experimented with marriage and fatherhood, one of his favorite bars and liquor stores, and many other spots. Along the way, we’ll explore the people and ideas that made up the warp and weft of Buk’s rich inner life. This Esotouric bus adventure is hosted by Richard Schave.

“Haunts of a Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski’s LA” spans Bukowski’s personal city, from Skid Row to once-genteel Crown Hill, to Bukowski’s favorite East Hollywood liquor store, the Pink Elephant.

Esotouric has made its name with true crime bus tours (Black Dahlia, Pasadena Confidential) and explorations of literary LA (Raymond Chandler, John Fante, James M. Cain). Now they turn their creative attentions to Bukowski, the prolific poet, novelist and screenwriter whose rough-hewn tales of boozing, wild women and rotten jobs never obscure the deep vein of sweetness and hope that runs through all his work.  To buy your ticket, visit: Hank Crow

(*Text taken directly from the Esotouric website, well, because it is just so dang perfect!)

Weekend Warriors!  A new exhibit at the Getty, ‘Soy Cuba!’ opens today.

The film series debuts with a 3pm showing of the pre-revolution narrative, Our Man In Havana. The 1959 film is based on a novel written by Graham Greene (who adapted his own screenplay for the screen) and stars Maureen O’Hara, Burt Ives, and Alec Guinness.

Today continues, with a 6:30pm screening of I am Cuba! Written by poet Yevgeni Yevtushenko and Enrique Pineda Barnet, this film stars Sergio Corrieri, Salvador Wood and José Gallardo. I am Cuba! highlights the lives of a prostitute, a farmer, students, and revolutionaries. In 1995, the 1964 film was presented by Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese in the U.S. for the first time – almost 30 years after its creation.  Sunday features, Memories of Underdevelopment (1968) and Lucia (1969).

‘Soy Cuba!’ is connected to A Revolutionary Project: Cuba from Walker Evans to Now, currently on view through October 2.  A Revolutionary Project exposes photos from three periods of Cuban history: before, during, and after Cuba’s 1959 revolution. The J. Paul Getty Museum explains:

“The exhibition juxtaposes Walker Evans’s 1933 images from the end of the Machado dictatorship with views by contemporary foreign photographers Virginia Beahan, Alex Harris, and Alexey Titarenko, who have explored Cuba since the withdrawal of Soviet support in the 1990s.”

The Italians have an expression: Fuoco nelle vene, fire in the veins.  Nobody knows this quite like the Cubans.  So go, get hot and bothered (and political) with the hot-blooded Cubans.  Unless you have one waiting for you… in your bed.

The Getty Center is located at 1200 Getty Center Drive in Los Angeles.  For reservations: INFATUATION

There are some truly fantastic exhibits that have opened recently and I would be a shit if I didn’t share them with you.  Olivier Zahm’s The Secrets of Photographing Women opens today thru June 12th.

Danziger Projects Gallery opens its doors, in its new premises, to the habitants and visitors of the Big Apple, who will have the opportunity to view a unique collection of photographs of model-myth Kate Moss.  Including rarely seen pictures shot by Mary Mc Cartney and Herb Ritts, with silk screens by Peter Blake.  (Read the rest here, Aphrodite)

According to The Huffington Post: ‘Annenberg Space for Photography’s latest exhibition Beauty CULTure is a photographic exploration of how feminine beauty is defined, challenged and revered in modern society.’  Sounds good to me.  Sometimes graphic, sometimes breathtaking, artistry includes:

David LaChapelle, Jean-Paul Goude, Terry Richardson and many more, “Beauty CULTure” at Annenberg Space for Photography, 2000 Avenue of the Stars, Century City, CA 90067, through November 27, 2011.

But don’t get too tangled up there, Soprano fans, or you’ll miss closing night of God of Carnage, dropping its curtain May 29th.

The Nirvana Museum Exhibit in Seattle opened April 15th and will run for a year.  With over 200 artifacts, relics and never-before-seen shit, it’s a must-see for Kurdt fans, Margaret Mead’s and you.

Last, but not least, Annie Sprinkle and the fabulous crazies whom I adore in San Francisco, are hosting a big ole huge-arse Ecosex Symposium opening June 17th with special guests, including Carol Queen; a weekend of workshops and loads of other queer and sexy, eco-friendly stuff including new ways to do the drippy nasty.  All for just $35.  That’s less than two hits of E.

Go.  Get your art on.  You’ll thank me later.

Update!  This just in…

“The Los Angeles County Museum of Art presents a major retrospective exploring the full range of Tim Burton’s creative work, both as a film director and as an artist, illustrator, photographer, and writer.”  Runs May 29-Oct 31.  For more info, visit: LACMA